Thursday, June 15, 2017

Last night, "The Carmichael Show" Season 3 was originally scheduled to air an episode called "Shoot-Up-Able," with the sitcom once again tackling a tough, timely subject in its own way. However, after the Congressional baseball shooting, and then the shooting in San Francisco, NBC ended up pulling the episode in favor of "Lesbian Wedding."

Earlier in the day, after NBC made its decision to pull the episode, but before the show actually aired, star Jerrod Carmichael taped an appearance on "Chelsea," to talk about the episode that would've followed his character surviving a mass shooting.

"I thought that tonight's episode would have an opportunity to talk about these tragedies in a meaningful way and really lend itself to conversation. A lot of times when things like this happen, and someone wants to talk about it in an outlet that's not the news, people will say 'too soon.' But when is it not too soon? Unfortunately these things happen constantly, and it's a thing that breaks all of our hearts. The episode itself was about me, the character Jerrod, surviving a mass shooting and him coming to the realization that even though he wasn't physically harmed he is still very much a victim."

He argued that we're all victims after these attacks, suffering from fear, and the pain of knowing that families have lost loved ones.

"And that's what the episode is about. Right now, NBC wants to pull the episode. To me, I understand a corporation making that decision, but really, to me, what it says is you don't think America is smart enough to handle real dialogue and something that reflects real family conversations and something that feels honest and true and still respects the victims. We handled the episode with as much love and integrity as we possibly could. To just pull that is just, it's criminal. It seems to do a disservice to the viewer, it does a disservice to you, it does a disservice to all of us."

He told Chelsea Handler he hoped they were having a conversation about it, as opposed to just a set decision.

The episode did not air last night, but perhaps it will air later. He's right, though, if you wait for the perfect time to address mass shootings -- and consider the perfect time to be when there hasn't been one -- you'll end up waiting forever. They seem to happen every single week.